What Could Have Been
by luvdobby
Summary: This story is the result of switching around a few characters in JK Rowlings Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. What if Ginny didn't receive Tom Riddle's diary but Hermione did...


**What Could Have Been**

**I am eternally sorry for the angst and hate that you will behold after reading this heart-wrenching fanfic. I promise that my next one will be cheery and flowery, but as far as the gore from switching around a few HP characters from one of JK Rowling's plot goes, please forgive me! By the way, I am not JK Rowling so therefore I do not own the plot of the story or anything like that. Enjoy (hopefully)!**

Scribbling away her dreams and fantasies was the only way Hermione could survive without going round the twist. She had just had an encounter with Ron and she desperately needed to leak all the juicy details to her well-loved diary. Her quill raced across its worn pages at breakneck speeds, and before Hermione knew it, her diary was full. She decided to hunt down Ginny. She of all people would understand her dilemma and probably give her another brand new diary to use. It was a good thing that Ginny was finally attending Hogwarts. Hermione was in desperate need for some girl time. She quickly spotted her bright red hair from across the common room, so therefore Hermione set out to talk to her.

"Wotcher Hermione! Just missed Ron, he left to go set off some Dungbomb's with Harry." Ginny greeted her as Hermione approached her armchair by the cozy fireplace.

"I have a favor to ask of you Ginny. You see, I seemed to have filled up my diary already and I was maybe wondering if-" Hermione started to explain.

"Oh, no worries Hermione. Mum packed me an extra for who knows what reason. You can have it. It's probably under my spell books in my trunk if you need it now." Ginny offered.

"I can't even begin to thank you Ginny! Well, I must be off then. Thanks!" Hermione finished as she bolted up the staircase to the girls dormitory. Sure enough, there was a diary tucked away under Ginny's potions book. She pocketed it for the time being and set off to go catch up with Ron and Harry.

Later that night, Hermione decided to crack open her new diary. She paged through the blank sheets of parchment, envisioning it once all of her hopes and dreams were written over it. She dipped her quill in a brand new pot of ink and began to pour out her heart and soul. In an instant, the page became blank and someone else's calligraphy was etched out on the page. Hermione rubbed her eyes and then began to read. It said:

_Hello, Hermione Granger. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?_

Hermione became shocked and aghast by the diary's uncanny magical ability. While racking her brains for an answer to the diary's source of magic, she wrote: 

_My friend Ginny Weasley lent it to me._

Upon seeing the word Weasley, realization hit. Hermione became positive that it wasn't Mrs. Weasley who slipped Ginny the extra diary. If anything, she bet that it was one of Fred and George's joke-shop worthy creations. It was most likely bewitched to charm its user, which was exactly what Tom Riddle was doing. While she had been thinking it wrote:

_Ah, Ginny Weasley. Is she in any way related to that charming Ronald Weasley you were mentioning earlier? If so, I'm sure she could help Ron see how truly lovely and beautiful you are._

Hermione originally had plans to dispose of the diary because of its enchantment, but she was second guessing herself and decided to keep it. With that, she began writing fervently to see what witty and cunning remark her diary would praise her with next.

The days turned into weeks as Hermione settled into a steady routine. First and foremost were her lessons and schoolwork. Then she went straight to her diary, pouring into it all her thoughts and fantasies like a waterfall. Initially, she tried to continue hanging out with Harry, Ron, and Ginny, but between her 2 other demanding priorities there was just no time. And, it wasn't as if they would have even understood what was going on either, especially Ron who had the emotional range of a teaspoon or Harry whose famous scar and some what big head probably cut off any feelings and emotions circulating his body to begin with. Her only regrets lay with Ginny, but Hermione promised herself that the hard feelings would eventually be absolved, and once she had more time to deal with Ginny's insecurities, they would vanish into thin air.

At first, Hermione gushed her feelings for Ron to Tom, but after awhile, those thoughts grew old and were outdated just like his Shooting Star. Tom knew that her feelings and alliances were swaying as soon as she mentioned how wicked Draco Malfoy looked on his Nimbus 2001 compared to Harry's average so-so look on his Nimbus 2000. Hermione was opening up more and more to Tom each day and Tom, as swift as a stunning spell, knew when to start his mission of haunting Hogwarts 'til its closure.

It was the 31st of October that Tom's plan began to truly unfold. Hermione was attending Sir Nicolas De Mimsy-Porpington's death day party with Harry and Ron. Tom had told her earlier that morning that he needed her to help him with something precisely at half past 7, so after feigning a stomachache from eating some of the intoxicating hors devours, she trotted up to Gryffindor Tower to retrieve her beloved diary.

She sat down, her quill poised inches above the parchment when-

Hermione woke with a start, her body drenched in a cold perspiration. Shafts of moonlight streaked in through the window opposite of her bed. Hours must have gone by, but what happened? She had no recollection whatsoever, not even enough to know how much time had passed. It seemed like just a few seconds ago she was ready to write to Tom and now… Hermione drifted off into an uneasy doze, scared for her life about what she didn't know.

The next morning, because she needed answers, she worked up the nerve to talk to Harry and Ron. As soon as she entered the common room, Ron rushed to her side to check if she was feeling all right, but she brushed off the gesture and faced Harry.

"So," she began casually, "did anything exciting happen at Nearly Headless Nick's party after I left?" The question came out sounding sarcastic, but what's now to mock about a death day party?

"Oh, Hermione. It was awful! We had just-" Ron started to explain, but soon got cut off by Hermione.

"Really Ron? A death day party, awful? You've got to be bloody kidding me!" she remarked rudely. She didn't have time for his meaningless chitchat. She turned towards Harry again, waiting for his reply.

"But it was awful Hermione! Quit being such a blast-ended skank, will you? Ron was about to say before you rudely interrupted that Mrs. Norris was petrified and …" Harry broke off, turning around obviously looking for someone in particular.

"Is it really horrid that Mrs. Norris has finally kicked the bucket? I mean, shouldn't you two be praising whoever did this?" Hermione commented.

"You don't get it, do you Hermione? This is the work of dark and evil magic and if you stopped acting like a unicorn turd you would realize how deadly this situation really is." Ron retorted bitterly, all caring feelings he once had for Hermione evaporating into thin air.

"Hermione! Colin Creevy has a picture to explain all of what happened last night to you. It's in his darkroom. Follow us!" Harry hastily explained while shuffling down the staircase.

Hermione sighed, rolled her eyes, and grudgingly followed. While trying to act bored and uninterested, she cuticles. Her spine stiffened and she felt a tingle of nerves kick in as she saw that they were stained red. She couldn't help but wonder what caused them to be in such a condition.

Upon entering the darkroom, Hermione couldn't help being impressed. Colin didn't let being a wizard stop him from continuing with his beloved Muggle hobby. She made a mental not to tell Tom what a wicked kid Colin was.

"Here's the shot from last night Hermione!" Colin beamed proudly as he displayed his prize possessions.

The words in the picture read:

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

The words in the photograph rung a bell and Hermione was experiencing déjà vu. Tom. The diary. Blood. The cat. Torch bracket. Her hands. But, Hermione began second guessing herself before she was swept into a whirlwind of accusations. If the culprit really was her, shouldn't the memory be as clear as crystal? Instead, it was like fog rolling in on the distant shoreline off in the horizon. For the time being, Hermione decided the only way to solve the problem was to consult Tom. And to get away from the haunting images that were swimming before her eyes. With that, she streaked out of the darkroom and ran into her dormitory, quill in hand.

It was the day of the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor quidditch match when Tom asked Hermione for her assistance once again. Hermione obeyed the command meekly because after consulting with him about the Heir of Slytherin, he confessed to her that after tonight, the culprit would be evident. 

After Slytherin's brutal loss in the match, Hermione headed out to tell Tom about how Harry Potter cheated Draco out of catching the golden snitch. As her last sentence shimmered lightly and proceeded to seep into the diary's pages, Hermione felt-

Breathing heavily, Hermione awoke from her trance, ready to know who the Heir of Slytherin was. Her diary lay open at her bedside and upon peeking at it, she saw directions from Tom. 

Before she knew it, the directions led her to go astray and into the hospital wing where Harry was resting. Harry! But he couldn't! But yet, she knew she had at last found her answer to the burning question in her heart. Upon hearing a shuffling, Hermione crept closer to the source of the sound.

"Get Madam Pomfrey." Dumbledore murmured. 

"What happened?" Madame Pomfrey muttered as she shuffled into view.

"Another attack." said Dumbledore, examining the victim, obstructing Hermione's view.

"There was a bunch or grapes next to him." Professor McGonagall commented. "We think that he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter." Hermione became disgusted, who would want to visit Harry? Whoever it was must have been desperate, I mean come on, Harry?

While straining her eyes to see the victim, the moon shifted out beyond the reach of the clouds, shining a ray of light across the body. It was Colin. Colin Creevy. Instantly, flashbacks of cameras and film canisters became clear. Almost immediately, Hermione felt like she could almost smell the acrid scent of burning film. It was a collective gasp by Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey that brought her back to her senses. Her nostrils were clear for only a few brief seconds before the stench of burning film returned. Except, this time, it was for real. All that remained of Colin's film was a puff of smoke that was wafting up to the high-domed ceiling of the hospital wing. Hermione wondered with a smirk what Colin will do when he awakens and realizes that his precious film was destroyed.

Because of all the recent attacks, Hogwarts felt complied to offer the students a chance to be able to conquer the monster that slithered throughout the Chamber of Secrets. Because attendance was mandatory, Hermione tore herself away from her weathered diary and half-heartedly joined in on the duels. It was only when the spectacle of the night heated up that Hermione began to take interest in her surroundings. Her savior, Draco Malfoy, and her once best friend Harry were called to demonstrate a professional duel. As the spells began to fly and curses shot through the air, Draco uttered the most crucially important spell, or so it seemed to Hermione. Serpensortia. Snape tried to interfere and get rid of the bloody serpent, but Harry, who had once set a python on his cousin Dudley at the zoo, had an idea on how to handle the situation. "Leave him alone!" was what Harry uttered when the python slithered towards Justin Finch-Fletchy. After he gave his warning, he expected to see Justin grinning and thanking him, but all he got was an angered glare and wary glances from his classmates.

Hermione who was watching this from afar, realized a brilliant opportunity was opening up for her. When Tom indicated that Harry could be a likely heir, nobody would have thought that Harry Potter could do such a thing. But now, the whole student body of Hogwarts knows that Harry is a Parseltongue, an obvious mark of Salazar Slytherin. She knew that if she helped spread the news of Harry being the Heir of Slytherin, no one would ever suspect her of doing the evil works and petrifying mudbloods. Hermione crept into Moaning Myrtles bathroom and whisked a gobletful of the polyjuice potion she was stuck brewing with Harry and Ron and inserted a few hairs of some random Slytherin student. Within minutes she was ready to save her reputation, and possibly ruining Harry's while doing it.

Tom's tasks for Hermione were becoming more and more common, so it was no surprise when Tom asked for help once again. Hermione abruptly left study hall and sprinted up to the dormitories. She flipped open the diary, dipped her quill in her ink pot, and as she smoothed out the page-

Hermione was being violently shaken awake. When spotting a flash of ginger, she turned away. She didn't want to deal with Ginny now, especially since she needed to know what happened while she was unconscious. With a grunt and a crude "Dragon bogeys!" Ginny hoisted Hermione out of her four-poster bed.

"Come on Hermione. The whole house is waiting for you!" Ginny urged. With that, Hermione's struggles ceased. If Professor McGonagall is down in the common room with all the Gryffindor students, there must be big news.

As Hermione and Ginny filed down the dormitory stairs, Professor McGonagall began to speak. "I would just like to let you all know, there has been another attack." she began.

"Who was attacked Professor?" Ginny questioned, sinking down into an armchair.

Professor McGonagall glanced around before uttering, "Justin Finch-Fletchy of Hufflepuff and our own Nearly Headless Nick." A collective gasp was voiced by almost all students before Professor McGonagall continued. "If the culprit of these attacks is not found soon, it is likely that the school will be closed." she finished. And with a sweep of her emerald green robes she was gone, leaving the students to ponder her final message.

Before Hermione had a chance to flee, Harry caught her by the arm and murmured, "The polyjuice potion is almost ready. Plan on carrying out the experiment Christmas night. If we don't stop Draco now, who knows what will happen." Hermione gave Harry a look of fake concern before squirming out of his grip and taking off up the staircase to her dormitory.

For the polyjuice potion, Hermione had to procure a few hairs of a Slytherin to gain access to their common room. She found the remainder of the poor Slytherin's hair she used when ruining Harry's reputation and was set. She continued to regret agreeing to help them, but at least Harry and Ron wouldn't be suspicious of her. 

She strolled casually into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, grateful that Myrtle hadn't flooded the place. While she awaited for Ron and Harry to arrive with Crabbe and Goyle's hair, she stirred the contents in the shimmering cauldron. The consistency of the potion reminded her of cement and gritty oatmeal and personally, her stomach quenched with fear as she became queasy when thinking of what she was about to drink. Hermione decided to give Harry and Ron the silent treatment for putting her in such danger by forcing her to drink the potion. When they arrived, she calmly divided the mixture and together, they added their hairs. From there, they branched off into separate stalls. Harry's tumbler contained a khaki-booger colored liquid, Ron's a murky brown, and Hermione's a sickening shade of yellow.

After locking the stall door, Hermione waited to see what the general reaction was to drinking the polyjuice potion for Harry and Ron. The first time Hermione drank it, it felt like there was a snake crawling and slithering in her skin and through her organs. But unsure if that was really the true reaction, because she had drunk hers before it was actually ready, she paused. From Ron's stall emitted a horrible retching and the sound of shattering glass. From Harry's came ghastly moans and more breaking glass. From these conclusions, Hermione scooped the potion out of her tumbler, placed it inside she usually used to hold portable fires, and then smashed her glass to the floor. They would never suspect a thing, especially as she fake moaned and pounded on the stall door for emphasis.

Finally, Harry and Ron must have completed their transformations. She heard the click of stall doors opening, although she continued to keep hers locked.

"Come on Hermione! Millicent Bullstrode doesn't look that bad!" Harry mocked as he knocked on her door. 

"I…I don't think I'm going." Hermione announced in a timid, nervous voice, trying to sound like something went way wrong.

"What's your problem Hermione? At least Harry and I are actually trying to solve this mystery." Ron complained, trying to force her stall door open.

"You're wasting precious time Ronald. Now GO!" Hermione pleaded, not wanting to get caught on her bluff.

She was only satisfied when she heard the thud from the bathroom door shutting, leaving just her and Moaning Myrtle behind. While pondering how to concoct a story on why she couldn't help Harry and Ron hunt down the Heir of Slytherin, she thought back to the restrictions in making the potion. That's it! One of the restrictions stated that the polyjuice potion should only be used for human transformations. So, if the hair Hermione slipped into her potion was really cat hair, she would be stuck like a cat for quite some time! So all Hermione had to do was make herself look like a cat. She whipped up the standard ears, eyes, nose, whiskers, and facial hair, but the outfit needed a bit more. A tail! With a swish of her wand, Hermione was able to create a desirable cat outfit, suitable for lying to Harry and Ron in. As she heard them barge back in through the door, precisely 1 hour and 3 minutes later, she put the final touches on her story.

"Hermione, open up, we've got loads to tell you!" shouted Harry, who was pounding on her stall door. 

Myrtle who had seen the transformed Hermione, giggled gleefully like a little girl. "Oh, wait 'till you see. It's just awful!" Myrtle snickered as she slipped into Hermione's stall and unlocked the door.

"Hermione?" Ron asked warily.

Harry gasped when he saw what happened. He instantly regretted all of the wet blanket jokes he was planning on tormenting her with.

Hermione then cleared her throat and began to tell her sob story that she had concocted. "The polyjuice potion is only meant for human transformations." she started. She shook her head and commented, "It was cat hair I plucked off of Millicent Bullstrobe's robes. Look at my face." she ended with a wavering voice.

"Look at your tail!" Ron pointed out, fighting back hysterics.

Relief washed over Hermione as water does in the prefect bathroom she snuck into once. They believed her far-fetched tale. She couldn't wait to tell Tom about it.

Later on, when Hermione was writing to Tom about her tail, whoops, I mean tale, she expected a friendly amused reaction, but all he cared about was Harry Potter. Why was everyone so interested in him? So what if he had a scar and all, there is way more important things to care about.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Tom couldn't shake off his Harry obsession. Hermione got so frustrated in fact, she fled to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and chucked it in the toilet, trying to dispose of it as fast as possible.

Hermione originally was thrilled that Tom would be forever gone. But, when she found out that someone had stumbled upon it she was frustrated. When she found out that the holder of the diary was Harry, she was furious! How dare he steal her diary! As soon as the boys dormitory was clear she ripped, shredded, tore, and mangled all of his possessions until the diary was hers once again.

As soon as she began to write in the diary again, Tom apologized over and over, begging for her forgiveness. Hermione tried unsuccessfully to stay upset with him, but failed miserably. He was just too charming!

Many months had passed before Tom was finally able to confidently ask Hermione to help him out with a few tasks once again.

Hermione skipped up to her dormitory early after dinner on the eve that Tom requested her assistance. She went all out for the occasion, she had purchased a sugar quill because it reminded her of how sweet Tom was. She was sucking away vigorously pondering what to write to-

Hermione shuddered awake as she bumped her head on a bed. She was lying in the hospital wing several hours later it seemed like. She carefully lifted her head and peeked over the top of the patients. From here she could see all who were attacked by the Heir of Slytherin. But, 2 new mangled corpses were added to the collection. She instantly recognized Lavender Brown and Penelope Clearwater as the victims. She slowly crept out of the hospital wing before Madame Pomfrey had a chance to scold her. 

Hermione by now knew that interacting with Tom was bloody awful and that she should truly dispose of the diary before anyone else got even more seriously hurt, but she did not have enough willpower for such a strenuous task. She continued to write faithfully to Tom and Tom therefore knew when to make his move. Hermione had put too much into the diary, allowing Tom to finally be freed of its pages at last. His plan was that before he disposed of the little brat, he would make Hermione write her own farewell. The message would read as follows, right below the remainder of the first message she had left. It would say:

HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER.

By then, his memory would be stronger than ever as the girl dies. It will be all he needs to defeat the boy who lived, Harry Potter, once and for all.

Hermione became relieved at the words scrawled across her diary page. They read:

Hermione, I am eternally grateful for all you have done to help me over the course of this year. I have just one favor left to ask of you. I'll explain more at 2 o'clock tomorrow. Thanks in advance!

Love,

Tom

As these words shimmered and faded, Hermione felt relief. It was as if a weight had been lifted off of her chest just because she knew that after tomorrow, Tom would be just a bad memory. If only Hermione knew just how true her prediction would be.

At 2 o'clock precisely, Hermione sat down on her bed a smoothed out a blank sheet of paper. She submerged her quill into her ink pot and-

Hermione awoke at once, a feeling of water trickling all around her. She felt dazed and wondered where on earth was she on Hogwarts grounds. Hermione propped up her elbows and sat up slowly, the blood rushing to her head. Watching her was a shimmering, ghost-like man, with eyes that shone brightly and curiously.

"I see you've finally awakened, Hermione. I was beginning to worry that you were not with me anymore." he murmured gently, as he sat down besides her and began caressing her bushy mane.

Hermione, not knowing who this man was, backed away apprehensively.

"Oh, no need to fret Hermione. It's just me, Tom Riddle." Tom cooed pulling Hermione closer.

Not knowing how to react to the shocking revelation, Hermione glanced around at her surroundings. They appeared to be underground somewhere. She wondered where all the students were or even where Harry, Ron, and Ginny were. And as much as she thoroughly enjoyed writing to Tom, being with the real thing was more than she could handle.

"Don't worry, my dear. Harry should be coming soon, just because as you like to put it, he always has to save the day. Soon though, he'll realize, there will always be obstacles in his way." Tom loathed openly.

Hermione then wondered if Harry wrote to Tom when he had the diary. Maybe he knows that it was her who petrified all the mudbloods or the one who's been killing off the roosters. Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. Why would Harry come now? Would she really be trapped down here with Tom Riddle forever?

She lay there, wondering for what seemed like hours, about what would happen to her. But, all of a sudden, she heard the sound of human feet slapping on water as her hopefully rescuer ran towards her and Tom. She squinted off into the distance. Was it really Harry? But, unfortunately, all she could spot was a head of flaming red hair. Ron's head. But he was better than nothing, at least. Either it was her time spent in captivity wondering about all that she had done that year, or maybe she was just truly excited to see Ron, but by the time he got close enough, Hermione closed the remaining distance as she ran towards him with open arms, reaching for an embrace.

"Wow Hermione! I guess I never really knew you cared." Ron whispered softly in her ear. Just those few words sent tingly vibrations throughout her entire body, just like a wand in the middle of casting a spell.

"Oh she cared all right." Tom spat. "All she could talk about was charming Ron, handsome Ron, and sensitive Ron. How she felt when you talked to her. Her feelings for you. Do you know how many months I had to remain calm and put up with that crap?" Tom loathed. He only had time for Potter, not his pathetic little sidekick, Weasley.

Tom's anger blew a fuse as his attention span was running short. "Where is Potter?" he uttered furiously, his hand gripping his wand so tightly, his knuckles were turning white.

Ron decided to take his sweet old time explaining the situation, after all, Hermione really did love him, and that was all that mattered. "Well, as soon as Harry, Ginny, and I discovered the message left by the Heir of Slytherin and found out that it was Hermione who was down in the Chamber, we decided to talk to Aragog, Hagrid's pet spider. Apparently Harry said some guy named Tom Riddle showed him that Hagrid was the culprit." Ron began.

"Aw, Ron. You talked to a spider just for me?" Hermione cooed contently. Ron was deathly afraid of spiders and for him, to talk to one, just for her!

"Oh yeah, it was pretty wicked! Anyways, we found out that the last time the Chamber was opened, a girl died. In a bathroom. We knew it just had to be Moaning Myrtle! So then we talked to her about her death to figure out that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is within the sink in front of her bathroom stall." Ron continued to explain.

"Look you git, I don't care about the Chamber of Secrets! As the Heir of Slytherin, none of that is even new information anyways! Now tell me where Potter is now!" Tom screeched, his face contorting with rage.

"Oi! I was just getting there! Wait a second, you're the Heir of Slytherin? You're not even a student!" Ron gasped. 

"Obviously you ruddy pumpkin head! NOW WHERE IS POTTER?" Tom exploded.

"Well, as I was saying before, we found the entrance to the Chamber, and with a few words of Harry's Parseltongue and the Chamber of Secrets was revealed. But, just as we were about to jump in, Malfoy banged into the bathroom, trying to catch Harry in the act of being the Heir of Slytherin. I escaped while I could with curses flying overhead, but Harry and Ginny might still be up there." Ron finished.

Tom growled with anger. "It took you that long just to tell me that Potter was dueling? Just for my agony, I'm going to take care of you and the insecure little fool even faster." he shouted.

"Take care of us? What do you mean Tom?" Hermione questioned as she fell to her knees from weakness.

"I mean, that as my memory grows stronger, you annoying little prat grow weaker." he remarked as he pointed at Hermione's crumpled body.

"But Tom…" Hermione started to explain, but was unable to finish as she felt her energy draining away from her body.

"And you." he started turning towards Ron. "You know way too much, you Weasley git. Fortunately for you though, you will get to die together with your little girlfriend." Tom retorted. "Any last words, either of you?"

"I love you, Hermione with all my heart!" Ron passionately declared.

"I love you too Ronikins!" Hermione murmured gently. With that they locked in a tight embrace and kissed each other goodbye.

"Avada Kedavra!" Tom's words echoed throughout the chamber as a blinding green light flashed. In that instant, the passionate couple were reunited in a better place, for the greater good.

Tom did not dwindle to admire his atrocious work, instead he headed swiftly to the entrance of his and Salazar's chamber. Upon arriving at the entrance, he saw Potter and the Weasley girl heartily celebrating their victory against Draco and his 2 cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. That childish little duel would be nothing compared to what they were about to endure.

Tom had called upon the basilisk, and in Parseltongue he uttered his command, "Kill them." just loud enough for Harry to comprehend.

Moaning Myrtle, realizing what was about to happen giggled, " When you die Harry, you're welcome to share my toilet."

Harry began to weigh his options. There was no way both he and Ginny would get out of this alive and if he survived and had to live without Ginny he wouldn't be strong enough to bear the pain.

"Ginny, this is it. You have to take my word for it, but I just heard Tom Riddle, who's really Lord Voldemort, give the basilisk the order to kill us. I just want you to know, I have and will always love you forever!" Harry whispered into Ginny's adorable freckled ear.

"Oh Harry, really? Is that true? Because you know, I love you too." Ginny lovingly responded.

With that, they drew each other closer and shared in the sweetest kiss of their lives. Together, they turned around to face the music and therefore end their lives. For an instant, they were able to see a great big pair of gleaming yellow eyes.

Together they began on the journey to the afterlife (strangely enough, it looked just like King Cross Station!) but Harry soon broke apart from Ginny after one final embrace. He couldn't neglect one of the final promises he made in his living years.

Dumbledore found Harry's ghost dwelling with Moaning Myrtle in the girls lavatory later that day. With the help of Harry, he found out about the events that occurred and therefore he began to send out hundreds of owls. Some informed parents that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was closing. Others mentioned Voldemorts return. Still others were sent out to the newly deceased's families. Those letters read:

To all those who are mourning,

It brings tears to my eyes to have to inform you of the regretful incident that has occurred at the former Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Four of our beloved students have suffered a fate similar to a student 50 years ago. They were manipulated by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and therefore, cease to remain with us today. When the proper time comes, I shall explain in great detail what has happened to Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, and Ron Weasley, but now is the time to grieve. It is I to blame for your profound loss and I am eternally sorry for the horrid outcome of this event. I can promise you that it will never happen again for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be closing its doors forever. May you never let their memories be forgotten.

Thinking of You,

Albus Dumbledore, former Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Tears were splayed across the pages of parchment as they were dripping down Dumbledore's crooked nose. He gave a final shuddering sigh before sealing the envelopes and releasing the owls.

The walls of Hogwarts as Dumbledore always knew it by came crashing down, leaving him to inhabit some foreign school with 4 deceased witches and wizards who all died for the greater good.

One by one, as the owls were received, the tragic news spread faster that a cage full of freshly cut Cornish pixies. The entire Weasley family was gathered together and all mourned openly about the profound loss. The Granger's acted similarly, trying to cherish the charming memories of their long lost only child, Hermione. The Dursley's acted in the most peculiar manner though, for they were celebrating and rejoicing Harry's death as if it were suddenly Christmas every day. At one point in the festivities, Dudley felt a twinge of remorse but he shook it off as he proceeded to lug over all of his broken, yet prized possessions to his coveted second bedroom, never to be inhabited by his poor punching bag of a cousin Harry ever again.

**I truly hope that this tale hasn't reduced you to a puddle of tears. Please give me your angst and agony in the form of reviews!! And, for my friends, even though you asked if I killed the Golden Trio in school and I said no, keep in mind, I told you I killed 4 people, not 3, so therefore, I always said no to your guesses of 3 people.**


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